Internal-combustion engine



March 18 1924.

I PRATT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGI NE Filed Jan. 10 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m T A m March 18 1924.

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' T. PRATT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Jan. 10, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVETOR.

T. PRATT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGEENE arch 1 @9224. WWW? Filed Jan. 10. 1921 4 Sheets-Shet 5 INVENTOR.

%% ORNEY March 18, 4 T. PRATT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Jan. 10 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar, 1%, 1224.

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instep LNTEBNAL-COMBUSTIOE Application filed January 10, 1921. Serial No. Ft-36,032.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE PRATT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Glen Cove, county of Nassau, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

It is the purpose of this invention to so construct and combine the devices that regulate the supply of fuel to the cylinder of the engine that their operation shall be positive, they being thus compelled to function at the desired time and open to view so that any failure in operation may be at once detec able upon mere inspection of the parts. The

construction and arrangement of the parts furthermore is such that no deposit of carbon or other obstructive material will be apt to accumulate on the controlling valve of the intake thus avoiding a seriously annoying incident in the use of the devices now most commonly employed.

In addition to the foregoing the construction and method of operation of the parts present in my invention are all simple, relatively inexpensive, and being relatively large v and strong in construction are unusually durable.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view parts being shown in elevation. Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the parts in an altered position. Figure 3 is a sectional plan view of the intake valve and the immediately adjacent parts. Figure 4 is an elevation partly in section of the invention as applied to an oscillating cylinder engine. Figure 5 is a cross section plan view of the crank case and adjacent parts taken on the line of the cross head 16.

In the drawings I illustrate the invention as applied to a new form of cylinder and piston recently patented by me, the same being Number 1,431,75 1, dated October 10, 1922, but I by no means limit myself to such new form because as will be obvious to those who are familiar with such matter it may be employed in conjunction with cylinders and pistons of different form provided appro priate changes in the details of construction and arrangement which those skilled will at once understand, he made.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, 1 illustrates the cylinder which in the example shown has extensions 2 and 3, 1 is the pisprovided with interior tubular parts 8 and.

9 and with suitable ports for the passage of the fuel and with suitable packings. The ex.- haust port is shown at 10,the crank at 11, the main shaft at 12, one of the crank pins at 13, and one of the external connecting rods at 1 1, which pivotally engages at 15 with a crossbar connected to the piston rod,- all'the foregoing parts may be as illustrated or otherwise both in construction and operation depending upon the special form of engine with which my invention is employed.

Referring now to the parts which more particularly relate to my new construction, 16 is what I term a sliding cross head, as shown it comprises a horizontal member provided at each end with a slot 17 and 18 respectively, and with a centrally located crossing member 19 which has a longitudinal slot 20. Upon the upper edge of the cross head or located thereon in such other place as preferred is a cam 21, 22 is a pin or other 7 projection rigidly set on the connecting rod 14 which works in the slot 20 of the crossing member and 23 and 241 are two similar pins or projections set rigidly on or in a frame 25 which iscpreferably hollow through which the cross head slides in its to and fro movements. The projections 23 and 24 pass through and work in the slots 17 and 18 in the opposite ends of the cross head. 25 is a rod preferably supplied with a roller 26 at its lower end which engages with the cam surface 21. The rod is held and guided in its movements by engaging with. suitable supporting parts of the cylinder and water jacket and has a spring 27 which abuts at one end against a washer 28 carried by the rod and at the other against some suitable fixed part of the machine as shown. At the upper end of the rod is attached a valve 29 which has a seat 30 near the end of the intake pipe 31 which discharges into a distributing chamber 32, (see Figure 3) provided with ports 38, which connect with the appropriate part of the interior of the cylinder or piston as the case may be.

The operation is as follows: The engine is a double acting one, i. e. there is an explosion and a power impulse at the end of each movement of the piston. The crank 11 in its revolutions carries the connecting rods up and down and also swings them laterally so that their lower ends describe an elliptically shaped course, during which movements the pin or projection 22 working in the slot 20 of the crossing member cause the cross head 16 to reciprocate horizontally so that the roller 26 on the lower end of the rod 25 will alternately be brou 'ht into engagement with and disengaged from the cam surface 21 on the cross head thus intermittently elevating the rod and conse quently opening the valve 29 on its upper end as shown in figure, permitting the fuel to pass through the valve and enter the distributing chamber 32 which will pass thence to the cylinder or piston as the case may be and again when the crank is at an angle of t5-degrees as shown in Figure 2 the cam surface will have passed so far to the right that the roller 26 will have moved away from the cam surface whereupon. the spring 27 will at once depress the rod and close the valve.

It will be noted that in the construction illustrated the stated movements of the parts will occur twice during each complete revolution of the crank the cross head however moving in opposite directions to effect such result.

In Figure- 4, 1 illustrate an adaptation of my invention to an engine having an oscillating cylinder. The parts are substantially the same as above described and speciiic reference need not be made to them except to say that the rod 25 which actuates the valve is supported upon and guided by suitable devices such as a confiner 34 on some moving part of the cylinder and that the latter is preferably supplied with a sealing plate 35 curved on the arc of the swing of the lower part or the cylinder which plate is preferably provided with a spring 86 which during the oscillations of the cylinder will maintain contact between the upper edges 87 and 38 of the crank casing and the curved surface of the sealing plate 35, thus preventing spattering of the oil; also in this embodiment of my invention the cam 39 is formed on a bar or plate 40 which is rigidly fixed to some suitable part of the apparatus. The operation is ohvious the swinging movements of the cylinder efiect the same operation of the rod and roller co-acting with the cam 39 as the like swinging movements of the connecting rods in the other construction.

.lt will be obvious to those who are familiar with such matters that my invention may be employed to regulate the admission of steam to a steam cylinder as well. as tne fuel to an internal combustion cylinder, and it will also be obvious that varioi alterations may be made in the details or construction and operation illustrated and described and yet the essentials of the vention be retained. I, therefore, do not limit myself to such details they form one form only in which my invention may be embodied.

I. claim 1. The combination with a cylinder equipped with the usual coacting parts of a connecting rod which extends longitudi nally adjacent to the exterior of the cylinder, an exposed cross head on the outside or" the cylinder arranged to slide transversely of the cylinder, means on the connecting rod which engage with the cross head and reciprocate it during the movements of the connecting rod, a cam like surface on the cross head, an exposed vertically movable rod on the exterior of the cylinder moved by its intermittent engagement with said cam and a valve which controls the admis sion of the power generating medium to the cylinder actuated by the vertical movements of said rod.

The combination with a equipped with the usual coacting parts 0 an exposed cross head arranged transversely of and on the outside of the cylinder, a cam surface on the cross head, an exposed vertically movable rod on the outside or the cylinder adapted to engage with the cross head and cam thereon, a valve which controls the admission of the power generating medium to the cylinder and means connecting the said rod with the valve whereby the latter will be actuated by the vertical movements of the former.

THEODORE PRATT.

cylinder 

